The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy’s proposed three-year marginal energy package.

The package was intended to provide the country’s surplus electricity at a cheaper rate to artificial intelligence (AI), data mining and industrial sectors.

Senior officials of the Ministry of Energy have failed to convince the IMF for the marginal package, due to which this important project is currently stalled. However, officials stated that renegotiation is expected in the next Economic Review negotiations

The marginal energy package was based on the availability of 8,000 MW of surplus electricity in the country.

According to the plan proposed, consumers would have to pay only the cost of production and capacity charges on this surplus electricity while all other surcharges and taxes would be eliminated.

In this way low-cost supply of energy to the industrial and technology sectors would be possible.

Initially, the package was introduced to boost artificial intelligence and the digital economy, aiming to enhance Pakistan’s regional competitiveness.

However, the IMF made the approval of the package conditional on “100 percent recovery” of all dues, which the Ministry of Energy has not been able to ensure at present.